sales person

We are going to add an additional sales person to make cold calls, call to our office sales, etc in addition to myself. I would like any ideas on pros and cons of having an outside rep. who is paid on commission and/or a small
base plus commission. Our current idea is to have this person on a very small base pay plus a commission schedule for maintenance contracts (to be paid monthly as we collect, lot a lump) 5% year one, 3% year two, 2 or 1% year three and then following it becomes an in house account. Landscape design/install jobs would be paid a one time percentage of the job. Prior to a proposal/contract being sent out of our office it would have to be approved by management. We would also have either monthly or quarterly sales goals for this person which MUST BE MET. I feel that we have been very successful in sales and more importantly job retention, but that there is an enormous opportunity to expand.
Please comment, critique, etc. I would greatly appreciate it.

Wow! Its great to hear your ready to expand enough to hire outside sales reps. I am assuming you have already checked what the going rate is for an outside sales rep in your area. Do you really need an outside rep? You may be getting your clients because you are actually selling your services through personal
interaction. If you hire a rep he or she is going to make the first impression and not you. Remember that "bad word of mouth" travels faster than good. I dont mean to say its a bad idea, but be very careful if you hire a rep. Remember, you are the one who made the business what it is now. If you do hire a rep, keep em happy.

sounds good i know two companys that are brothers they do this every year ,they both have well over a thousand accounts each though that is just one form of advertising they do.i personally would try it on a comission basis.good luck it works i tried it one weekend and i mostly got hang-ups and asnwer machinesthen i gave up ,but its definately is profitable those two gus are living proof..

Alan, I am new to the business and have a couple of questions. Would most of the sales apply to landscaping? I just started a lawn cutting service and have been trying to figure out how to sell this service myself. I have been knocking doors and find no one home in daytime and in the evenings folks seem less than glad to see me. Any ideas for me?

As far as for your commissions since they are listed as a percent, must be for lawn cutting right? If that is the case I would say it is going to be hard to get someone motivated with a cut shown the way you listed.

I sold Motorola 2-way radios and systems for 11 years and it's hard to hit the pavement daily as an outside rep without some kind of good cut right out of the gate. Takes a hard nosed person to take alot of "No's" and still keep hitting the next door unless you have a chance for some good pay fast. Are you paying sales reps expenses?

Truth is, most sales folks never look down the road that many years. If you are talking about lawn cutting service can I suggest that you offer the first cutting fee to your sales rep and then a percent? Just think of it as every job he or she gets as a job you would have never had without them and the fees will not bother you to pay.

Your plan will work just as you laid it out. I sold lawn/landscape services for a mid size family company and our pay structure was very similar. I would address a company vehicle or a vehicle monthly allowance with a fuel card. These issues could be a sticking point with a quality sales person.

It's great to see you are growing and see the need for a salesperson. Please don't treat it as a necessary evil, the value you put into this position will be returned. If this situation is something you inheritly distrust, a good rep won't stay.
As sales trainers say " NOTHING Happens until some one sells something"